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Thursday, 16 January 2014

Valentine Treasure Chests

These petite treasure chests make perfect Valentine gift boxes. A surprise is always nice, in addition to a card! These treasure chests are just the right size for sweets or trinkets.With a pink colour scheme, they are ideal for Valentine's Day. But switch to tan for a more authentic olde treasure chest appearance and you can use them all year round (Talk Like a Pirate Day?), birthday party favours.

I like to use 160gsm cardstock for the chests - a nice printable weight that's easy to fold. You can get some interesting effects by printing on slightly patterned paper: try kraft or distressed-look. The hardware is made of double-sided gold pearlescent paper.

Here's the tut:

Treasure Chest Gift Box Tutorial

1 Above, all the template pieces cut out and prepped. All the tabs and flaps have been scored and folded. I like to use a fine embossing tool held against and small metal ruler.

2 Make the treasure chest base first. You can use PVA tacky glue or d/s tape. I've used d/s tape to demo because it is quicker. Tape on the side tabs and under the long top flaps. To assemble the box, stick adjacent sides.

3 Turn under the long top flaps for a neat finish. Like so:

4 The next step is optional. Attach the chest end liners:

5 Time to make the domed lid:

On the front sides, attach tape snippets to all the short tabs. On the flip side, attach tape to the bottom turnings.

6 Next, join the side sections to the main section, matching sections as shown.7 Next, gently shape the main section so that it curves:

8 Now for the tricky bit. Take it slow and easy. Attach the remaining tab of the side piece to the other side. Then attach the short tabs inside the side dome. Stick the middle tab first, then work outwards on either side:

You want a nice, smooth curve. Repeat for the other side, of course.Here's a view from the inside:

Next, turn under the bottom flaps on all four sides. 9 This bit is optional - for pretty appearance: lining the lid side panels. Like so:

10 Time for the hardware now. To make each side handle, fold a handle piece in half and a backing plate, too. No need to glue the sides of the handle together. Add a snippet of d/s tape to one half of the plate and also on the back of the plate. Pass the plate through the handle, catching in the handle top bar. (You will have to squeeze the plate together slightly.) Seal the plate halves together.

Thread a piece of string through the key, and tie the key onto one handle. Stick a handle onto each side of the chest top:

Align the handle bar with the lid side border.11 Attach lock to lid front.

Punch or pierce a hole in the centre front edge of the chest lid. I used a 1/16" circle hand punch. Also punch a hole through the lock top. Attach lock to chest front with a brad.